The Flyers wrapped up their Rookie Series up in Allentown over the weekend with a clean sweep of the Rangers, and brought a very strong start to this slate of exhibition play. It was a well-rounded effort, all in all, and while there was certainly no shortage of standout players worthy of acknowledgment, we’ve narrowed it down to the five(ish) very best and most intriguing.
The big guns
We’ll get this right out of the way, because there’s not too much here that’s groundbreaking. Coming into camp as some of the more senior or most highly skilled players in the group, there was an expectation that all of Alex Bump, Denver Barkey, Porter Martone, Oliver Bonk, and even Jett Luchanko would be the ones to rise to the top of the group and pop the most. And, by and large, this is exactly what happened. We don’t want to spend too much time hammering on their impacts and take away from some of the others’ — because, indeed, all of these players getting in for these games in the first place was less about doing heavy duty observation on them for the management group, but just giving them a chance to get their legs going in a real competitive setting, and it was more valuable to give the higher volume of minutes across the pair of games to some of the less developed players who might benefit more from the lessons laid out in these settings.
Still, it was a real positive to see everyone in this group effectively doing their thing out there. Bump looked confident with the puck and was able to set up some nice attempts (and one goal), Barkey was buzzing and getting in and around the netfront looking for chances (also getting a goal), Martone was generating looks and bringing a good physical presence, Bonk was poised in his puck moving and got involved nicely in the offensive zone, and Luchanko was using his speed well, even working up to playing a little more selfishly and taking a couple of shots on goal.
There were still a few dicey moments for this group as well, but on the whole, there was a lot to like from this group that we expect to make a bigger run in main camp.
Cole Knuble
Though Knuble ultimately falls just outside of that big guns grouping — given his still relative inexperience with the pro game and the modest pedigree that he’s bringing along with him at this point — he certainly looked like he belonged playing amongst that group. Filling out the line with Bump and Luchanko in the Saturday game, Knuble was able to very quickly make his presence known. He brought the biggest bit of flash with his goal scored to pull the Phantoms back into the lead in the second period — a sneaky impressive play to receive a pass on the backhand on the fly while crashing the net — but he was notable really from start to finish in that game. His energy level was notable, and he was doing well to make himself a frustrating presence for opponents on the forecheck, along with keeping himself available around the net for chances. He held up well to the physical tone of that game as well — he took a couple of big knocks to make a play, and bounced right back up after and kept it pushing.
It’s an open question, how much Knuble can use that momentum to make a surprise longer run in training camp, but if nothing else, the fact that he was able to flourish with and against the best of the best in this game bodes well for where his game is at as the season approached.
Carson Bjarnason
More to the impressive single-game showings, goaltender Carson Bjarnason came up big in his start for the first game of the weekend. It wasn’t an easy outing for him, with a few big power plays to contend with (both of his goals allowed came on the power play, but this was the only time the Rangers could beat him) and a couple of tough shifts where the Rangers were cycling well and putting up flurries of chances, but he worked well to fight to see the shots coming at him through traffic, and bailed out the skaters in front of him on a couple of occasions.
It was about as strong of a showing as we could have hoped to see in his first game back from the summer break, and it felt meaningful as a tone setter — Bjarnason had a bit of a tough second half of last season (for some reasons outside of his control, some not), but it’s clear that he hasn’t allowed any negativity from that linger on him or to roll into this new season. He’s looking like he’s well and truly back on track, and it will be interesting to see what he does from here.
Maksim Sokolovskii
A whole lot of attention was sure to be paid to whatever Sokolovskii, as the organization’s newest first round pick, was going to be able to do in this series, and he certainly delivered an effort worth the price of admission. His physical game was immediately apparent, as he showed a definite readiness to throw the body around and chase a bit of engagement (sometimes stepping over the line, but it was a tone setter, all the same), but he also stepped up with a few flashes of effective puck moving and playmaking, creating a couple of nice sequences off the wall, and even got involved in the scoring, picking up a secondary assist on Martone’s empty net goal on Sunday, rounding out what was, well, perhaps a more well-rounded game than we might have expected to see from him right from the jump.
It wasn’t a perfect showing for him, as he still had a couple of miscues mixed in there, and some moments when he had the puck and was able to hold onto it, but didn’t exactly seem to know what to do with it, but that was more or less to be expected. Sokolovskii is still a bit of a project, but it was nice to see him holding his own in these game settings, and now he has a little bit more experience banked as he heads into his regular season.
Noah Powell
And finally, speaking of physical presences, it would be very difficult to have made it through that series without having noticed Noah Powell. It was certainly a high-event weekend for Powell, who got in for both games and had a fight in each, but was also playing the agitator role pretty consistently across the board. If he was putting in the work to get under the Rangers’ skin, it certainly was effective, as he was able to pull them off their game and into some scuffles, keeping the temperature high. It was an energy level that worked well to keep the crowd in the games as well, and a presence that didn’t go unappreciated by his teammates.
It was a very flashy impression made, but the more interesting question, though, is of what he does from here. That is, playing that physical game can be effective and surely make for a quick and strong first impression, but it can’t be the only thing you’re doing out there if you want to be an every night regular on a roster as crowded as the Phantoms’ is looking to be this season. Powell’s physicality was notable this weekend, but we also might have liked to see him do a bit more with the puck (though the empty net goal on Sunday was a nice moment and can’t be ignored), and that sets up what could be a good jumping off point as he approaches the real meat of this season. Finding his game is a process, but he’s starting to pick out what works.
